A/N: Wow I have to apologize to you guys for the huge wait. I have no excuse other than I got caught up in writing another story and then started to get really busy afterwards but here you guy the 15th chapter of Sentient enjoy!

Last Time: "Raikage-sama you think it was a good idea bringing Yugito and her squad?" the man in question snorted and watched the backs of their escorts.

"It would have happened eventually the only ones that will try anything are Iwa but we are on good terms with them so more than likely Ōnoki won't call for anything relating to his death but rather something to tie him to their village and Konoha well the Sandaime isn't a fool he knows that Naruto practically belongs to them. But to answer your question no it's not a good idea the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens.

Tetsu no Kuni

Naruto stared at the door to the entrance of the Kumo summit that eventually led to the room where the strongest ninja were seated. He felt naked without his weapons and he was sure that his teammates shared his feelings. Since Kumo had more than two bodyguards they had been stripped of their weapons and placed under watch of a squad of samurai until the meetings were over which resulted in the tense feeling in the air. He knew if someone wanted to capture him right now they couldn't due the number of powerful ninja gathered in one place but that same reason had him on edge. If an enemy tried to capture them it would most likely be S-rank ninjas or in other words Kage killers as they were dubbed. The blonde tensed when he felt a hand on his own fisted one. He followed the familiar flawless skin and saw that Samui was looking at him with what was a mixture of worry and reassurance. Flashing a smile he leaned forward and planted an innocent kiss on her forehead and held her fingers in between his own. Samui smiled at the gesture but knew he was only trying to not to worry her. Before she could say anything a guard opened the door and peered through the room before his eyes landed on Naruto.

"The Kage's wish to see you" the polite gruff tone of the man cutting through the silence standing up the Jinchūriki gave his fellow Genin's a smile before going through the door. The light of the tunnel to the Raikage's seat dimmed with only the burning candles keeping the pathway lit. The guard passed without a word and began the walk to the meeting room. His heart started to race thinking about what would happen to him after the meeting. He could end up being separated from Samui and placed into another village he stopped that thought there was no way the Raikage would give him to another village. His thoughts drifted to Konoha what was the third Hokage like did he want him back? Did he want him back and if so was it for good reasons or just because of his heritage. The blonde shook his head and steeled himself remembering the training his Kaa-san had given him and knew she wouldn't want him showing emotion in such a hostile place. Regaining himself he exhaled and closed his eyelids slipping into his focused aloof mask. The guard stopped to the entrance before he looked behind himself to see the Namikaze behind him completely focused. He smirked maybe the kid wasn't a pussy like he had initially thought.

"Have fun" with that he opened the door to the meeting. Naruto stepped inside and saw the familiar sign of his village on a cloth draped over a chair with no doubt the Raikage sitting in it. He walked to the left passing Darui who nodded to him before he noticed the other people in the room. The first he noticed was the fourth Kazekage he knew he could use Jiton and had multiple children that were said to be skilled in their respective arts he noticed his two guards were completely covered with not an inch of skin the thing catching him off guard was one of them was significantly shorter than the other and was also chained to the taller of the two.

His eyes drifted to Iwagakure an extremely short middle aged man was staring at him with unrestrained judgment flowing through his eyes. The cloud and rock had always been on friendly terms but Iwa had always hated anything to do with the fourth so he couldn't predict their actions towards him he glanced to the two guards standing just behind the old man one of them was sneering almost snarling at him with hatred he had never seen. He ignored the Jōnin and noticed the next set of eyes on him.

The Mizukage he guessed they were supposed to still be in a civil war. He repressed a blush at the beautiful woman who was smiling at him he locked eyes with her which proved to be a mistake when she blew a kiss towards him heat rose to his calm features before he looked towards the guards of the forward woman. His jaw threatened to drop at the woman staring back at him. Her looks rivaled Samui's and her state of dress only proved to add to the fact his eyes locked on to her own pink eyes they stared at one of another for what was much too long before a cough interrupted them he blinked and thought it sounded like his sensei's but brushed it off knowing she wouldn't do something like that. He turned his head to look at the final Kage and the one he was most nervous about. The third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi did something he hadn't expected he gave him a genuine smile he let curiosity show for just a moment before ignoring it and looking towards his bodyguards and knew who they were instantly. Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan and Jiraiya of the Sannin the later smiling with happiness while the former only nodded to him he looked back and met eyes with his leader and received a nod returning the gesture he bowed to the men and women in the room.

"My name is Naruto Namikaze it's an honor to be in the presence of so many influential and powerful people I hope everything goes peacefully" the eyebrows of the ninja rose in slight surprise at the cold tone of the boy except for one.

"Mmm a man with manners I like that what do you think Motoko-chan?" he ignored the flirtatious comment and waited for the purple haired beauty to give an answer.

"It's a nice change of pace but I'm sure we aren't here to discuss my taste in men" she replied with a steely tone causing the Jinchūriki in question's heart to skip a beat. Her voice was so professional and commanding devoid of any playfulness but it still sounded beautiful. He caught her gaze once more and looked for any kind of emotion but found none. The next to speak up was the Hokage who cleared his throat gaining the attention of all the room.

"Naruto my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi I knew your parents and held you in my arms just before you were… adopted I know you don't know me but-" he frowned when he was interrupted by the Tsuchikage's guard.

"What the hell are you people doing! This bastard's father killed thousands of people and you treat him like some kind of innocent child he should be repenting for his sin-"

"Quiet you damn fool I won't have you acting so impulsive in the presence of these people!" interrupted Ōnoki sparing a glare to his side where the man was stationed. He softened his glare and stared at the Hokage a silent motion to let him continue while the other ninjas visibly relaxed.

"As I said I know you don't know me but I am your grandfather of sorts and this" he gestured to his left to the ragged looking man behind him.

"Is Jiraiya your godfather he's been searching for you since the day you were taken" he said surprising the blonde Jiraiya the Sannin was his godfather along with the third Hokage how did that happen? So many questions swam through his head but before he could dwell on the thoughts the white haired man greeted him.

"Naruto I knew your parents and they wanted me to take you in if something happened to you we can go back now you can be with your family there's so many people that want to meet you." The ninjas in the room held grim looks at the Sannin, his voice tangled with hope. Before Naruto could respond the Kazekage's gruff tone made its way through the room.

"I doubt Raikage-dono is going to let anything happen to the boy without his consent so why don't we let him have a word in?" he nodded to the man in question who returned the gesture.

"The Kazekage is correct, Naruto is a Kumo ninja and will be until his contract expires if he decides to become a civilian then he can leave the village but until then he is a ninja of the cloud and a proud one at that"

"I just want to know if he can use that blasted technique of the Yondaime's" the annoyed voice of Ōnoki said.

"That is not open for discussion Ōnoki-dono"

"Boys why don't we let Naruto-kun have a say in this besides wasn't the point of calling him in here to see how you could all use him to your advantage?" glares turned to the female Kage's cheerful voice who just smiled in return.

"Thank you Mizukage-san-" thanked Naruto

"No formalities with me handsome call me Mei-chan or feel free to give me a nickname" resounding sighs came through the room at the woman's flirting some sounding almost envious.

"Um thank you… Mei-chan, Hokage-sama Jiraiya-sama I apologize but I have a life in Kumo everything I care about is there and I couldn't leave that I know you've been searching for me for a long time and I appreciate it but I just don't want to go back but I would like to visit sometime" Sarutobi smiled and sat back in his chair while nodding happy that he had seemingly found what he wanted the blonde to have. Jiraiya said nothing but stepped back while frowning his eyes burning with emotion.

"If I may speak Kage-sama's?" a familiar tone said.

"Of course Motoko-chan I know you've been dying to speak to him" ignoring the embarrassing comment Motoko continued with her introduction while her pink eyes danced to the sky blue ones observing her.

"I'm Motoko Kusanagi pleasure to meet you" she said evenly while being slightly annoyed that she couldn't shake his hand it had always been a pet peeve of hers when she couldn't shake the hand of someone she just met, it let her gauge what type of person they were granted she could do that with her eyes. She nodded when he introduced himself as smoothly as he could. The mist ninja shifted her weight to one leg and looked him over expertly without anyone noticing while the other Kage's continued to ask him questions that he either didn't answer or gave half-truths. She resisted a smirk the Origami no Megami was an excellent teacher as was his other sensei a Yugito if she was correct. Pink eyes moved through the room before they landed on the form of said woman she eyed her form and followed her onyx eyes to the form of Naruto and looked closer at the woman and saw her looking at him with more emotions than a sensei should. Pushing those thoughts away she folded her arms and closed her eyes, this whole meeting was more complicated than necessary. Several minutes passed until she heard Mifune stand up.

"It's agreed then this year's exams will be held in Mizugakure" Mei smiled at her fellow ninja, happy that she would be able to show the nations that the mist was capable of more than bloodshed before resisting the urge to hit herself after realizing she did almost the opposite.

'I'm an idiot' She sighed at her mistake but brushed it off she would at least get to show them that Kiri was not to be trifled with. Ei stood with a grunt before putting on his Kage hat and tipping it slightly.

"Were done here then I'll be seeing you all at the exams" with that Yugito and Darui fell in line at his shoulders with Naruto behind the three the four left the conference room but not before Mei gave her own goodbye.

"Be seeing you Naruto-kun" giggling at the blush on his calm features she too left with a nod to the other Kage's.

With Kumo

"Naruto you did good, your mother taught you well" receiving a glare from his surrogate daughter he chuckled.

"And your sensei did alright too I suppose" the blond smiled and thanked the Raikage and wrapped his arms around a waiting Samui just before giving her a kiss. She rested her forehead on his while there friends watched with small smiles at the show of affection.

"We knew you'd do fine" she smiled while Naruto just chuckled and thanked everyone, Yugito not being able to resist the urge to tease him spoke up.

"Yarite-kun are you going to tell hime about the woman you were ogling the entire meeting?" she was teasing of course but part of her wanted him to get some kind of punishment for making eyes at the Mist-nin no matter how unintentional it was it still made jealously flare in her chest. The room stared at Samui wondering what the ice queen would do. She pulled her head back before resting her hands on his chest. Gaining a thoughtful look on her face she questioned his slightly nervous features.

"Whats her name?"

"Motoko Kusanagi she's a mist ninja really pretty just like you, Karui, and Yugito-sensei" Karui blushed and ignored the comment.

"You said she was a mist ninja I thought they were in a civil war?" hearing an amused grunt all eyes turned to Yugito while Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man next to her he resembled like Omoi but with slightly longer hair.

"So did everyone else, it wasn't discussed but I suspect the civil war has been over for a while now the Mizukage was a woman named Mei Terumi she was…open in her flirting with Nar-um Yarite-kun" she replied with an annoyed tone at the woman and for the slip up on her student's name. Samui gave Naruto a pointed look who found the ground interesting.

"Uh yeah she was nice but it wasn't anything serious" his hurried reply came.

"Alright it's time to go we've done what we came to do team five I want a full report once we get back to the village understood?" a booming voice interrupted ignoring that they were still inside.

"Hai Raikage-sama!"

Kumo Group one day later

The Kumo group was currently sitting around the fire of their camp after traveling the whole day. Naruto smiled at the scene everyone was getting along exchanging stories and jokes and other things. He caught his girlfriend's eye while she was talking to Darui and the Raikage she smiled briefly before going back to the conversation that was about Darui's bloodline or something of the sort he didn't know. He saw Karui and Omoi a little ways away sitting on a log. He shook his head wondering when they were going to get together. Yugito was next to him gazing at the stars they hadn't said much to each other preferring to sit in comfortable silence.

"Sens-"his eyebrows raised in curiosity when a finger silenced his lips.

"No more of that sensei stuff call me by my name" he nodded and thought to himself before glaring at her.

"Then call me by name" he told her with narrowed eyes.

"Not happening~" she replied in a sing song voice. He sighed and continued his earlier thought.

"Never mind that I was going to ask if you had any family besides Raikage-sama of course" he berated himself when she grew quiet and seemed to remember something she didn't want to. Seconds passed as the Nibi host thought to herself.

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked, don't have to tell me I didn't mean to bring up painful memories" she shook her head.

"Its fine I just hadn't thought about my family in a while but yes my adoptive family as you know is A and his brother"

"He has a brother?!" she narrowed her eyes at his outburst and nodded when he apologized.

"Don't interrupt Yarite but yes his name is Kirābī but most call him B he's…eccentric and you guys have a lot in common I'm surprised you've never met or heard of him"

"What do we have in common?" the Shinobi asked

"Well I'm sure you've heard that there's another Jinchūriki besides me and you right?" she giggled when his face scrunched in light concentration before it came to him.

"He's a Jinchūriki…just like me which one?" she held up both her hands each having some fingers held down forming numbers and smiled when his eyebrows shot up.

"Eight…do you think I could meet him?" he smiled at the thought of meeting another host.

"Of course I planned on having you guys train with him anyways" The information seemed to make him even happier which was displayed by his blue eyes sparking in excitement.

"So you said your adoptive family does that mean" he let his question linger receiving a negative shake of the head.

"No…they abandoned me when I was a baby I don't know what happened to them" Naruto growled at the thought of someone else receiving the same treatment, his eyes clenched shut as he tried his best to calm down. Yugito smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"It's alright I've gotten over it I'm not angry with them any more you just have to move on right?" he nodded his anger subsiding and settling in the pit of his stomach. She smiled and pulled away but not before placing a kiss on his whiskered cheek.

"Thank you Naruto for caring" he nodded with a small blush.

"I hope you're not giving away my kisses handsome" Naruto along with the rest of his teammates whipped their heads in the direction of the voice.

"Get ready for a fight!" the gruff voice of the Raikage came signaling the others to draw weapons. Naruto frowned his paper hadn't picked up any intruders so they had to be good granted he was distracted but the sheer amount of paper that was placed around them should have given him something.

"Raikage-dono don't tell me you've already forgotten me" the voice was obviously female and was frighteningly close. He looked towards the fire hearing footsteps there and prepared to turn the spot into crater but stopped when he saw it was…Mei? And her guards he frowned they seemed to have appeared out of nowhere with no signs of a technique. Naruto already working on moving his paper splayed around there campsite to shuriken stared at the group of Kiri ninja waiting for his superiors signal to strike.

"Mizukage-dono I hope you're not here to fight" she laughed ignoring the ninjas prepared to kill.

"Of course not I just came here to discuss a few…things" she replied with a sultry tone directed at Naruto causing Samui and Yugito to stare harder at the woman. The Raikage stared at the woman he couldn't sense her until just before she showed up. He looked at her two body guards and knew it was the purple haired woman his spies had said there was someone with no equal in terms of stealth stationed in Kiri. He nodded to the flirty woman he was no fool all three of the foreign ninjas were dangerous but they wouldn't beat seven of some of the finest ninja to ever come out of Kumo that he was sure of. He nodded to his soldiers who sheathed there weapons and took seats next to each other while staring at the intruders.

"How are you doing handsome I haven't seen you in hours Motoko-chan hear talked about you non-stop" the auburn haired woman said while the leotard wearing woman hummed in annoyance knowing that was a lie.

"I'm flattered Mizukage-san but I'm guessing you came here for a reason" the steely voice of Naruto came causing A to nod at the boy his sensei's were doing their jobs right.

"Tsk tsk tsk all work and no play well that's not true considering what I saw earlier…" she trailed off letting him know that she saw the intimate moment between him and his teacher. She smiled before turning to the only one that could equal her power out of the group.

"But all handsome blondes aside, yes I came here to discuss something with you Ei-dono could we talk in private?" Yugito was visibly grinding her teeth at the woman and gave her father a pointed look; she didn't trust this woman to be alone with the father for one second. He raised a hand to her and stood before stalking off to his large tent with his fellow Kage in tow. As they disappeared silence washed over the once happy camp replaced with a battle ready air. Motoko who had previously had her eyes closed and was leaning against a tree opened them and stalked over to the topic of their visit. She ignored the woman next to him and reached a hand out to his seated form. He eyed it with an unreadable gaze before taking it and finishing the gesture. A smile threatened to break out on her stoic features.

"May I have a seat next to you?" she questioned. Yugito stood and moved away from the two Shinobi in favor of a position behind the woman and prepared to take her down if necessary.

"Go ahead" she smiled, at least he thought that's what it was. It was more of a slight incline of the lips if anything. She sat and gazed up at the stars with him and thought of what she wanted to ask him first.

"You interest me" the Jinchūriki along with everyone in the camp raised their eyebrows in curiosity.

"Thank you? I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been wondering about your odd interest in me" his somewhat awkward reply came. She waved him off while crossing a leg over another.

"I don't expect you to say anything Namikaze-san but there is something you should know" Motoko ignored the intrigued stares on her seated form and continued on with the supposed knowledge.

"The reason we're here is to open negotiations for an alliance." Samui felt the metaphorical gears begin to turn in her mind and almost let a growl slip at what she hoped wasn't true. Naruto soon came to the same conclusion and frowned forgetting his mask of indifference.

"Your leader is trying to betroth you to me?" A negative shake of the head had the camp now in confusion.

"What Mizukage-sama wants is an alliance where Mist will give valuable resources and additional troops in times of need and vice versa. While this is an even deal already to further solidify the agreement they need a genuine and emotional connection between the village, that's where you and I come in"

"How so?"

"Mei-sama is understanding, while I wouldn't have cared if we were betrothed to one another we aren't. But what will be put into the agreement is we are required to go on at least three outings together" Omoi stepped forward making Aoi twitch before settling.

"Kumo is a militaristic village capable of defending itself against the strongest villages, so why should we risk betrayal with your thought to still be in war country? And what resources could you possibly have that we need?" Motoko crossed her arms in thought for several moments seeming to have ignored the question.

'I see it seems our counter intelligence has been doing even better than originally planned' Motoko thought to herself, ever since the war ended they had worked there hardest to make sure the villages still thought they were locked in a one sided war and it had obviously worked.

"Why should you trust us? That's just it you shouldn't and your Kage knows this as does every veteran Shinobi and Kunoichi. But there is something I do know that your village wants, and that's bloodlines and swords while they may not still be gunning for them like they once did before your current leaders take over there still wanted and we can offer them" Naruto nodded at that but still one thing still didn't make since to him. Why was this the woman he was being paired with? Yugito continued to glare at the woman, but still managed to piece together things that to her were obvious.

'I see so she holds a bloodline…' The two tailed cat inside her stomach could be heard purring no doubt content with her containers jealousy for the handsome blonde.

'That Mei woman is clever! To have so many cards In her hand that she could secure an alliance with a village on par with the likes of Konoha so fast she's obviously a Terumi' Nibi's knowledgeable voice drifted through her mind making Yugito arch an eyebrow forgetting her irritation for a moment.

'Yes this was established earlier where have you been?' Yugito asked mentally.

'Taking a cat nap! Get back to being jealous!' She rolled her onyx eyes and turned to face her father's tent which opened letting the two powerful ninja's rejoin the group. The group grew quiet watching the two Kage's stand next to each other with content looks on their faces, Mei more or less looked even more flirtatious than usual.

"Naruto front and center" Moments later Naruto was standing in front of his leader having a feeling as to what was about to happen. The dark man laid a sizeable hand on his shoulder and started off.

"Unofficially at the moment I and Mizukage-dono have reached an agreement of an alliance with various conditions." He nodded his blonde hair shaking slightly at the motion.

"One of those conditions requires Motoko-san to come with us to our village and spend time with you, this is not a marriage but could very well end in one if we find you are compatible with her do you have any objections to this arrangement?" The blonde broke his gaze with his leader and looked to his right where Samui stood. She bit her lip and closed her eyes while crossing her arms knowing that he wanted her judgment on this.

'I knew this could happen and it's better if Naruto at least gets to know the women instead of having to marry and use them as concubines. It's oOnly three dates…' she opened her eyes to meet blue and nodded slowly. Small sighs were heard throughout the group no doubt happy they wouldn't have to deal with an angry girlfriend. Receiving acceptance from his lover he extended a hand to the Raikage and shook it his own hand dwarfing in comparison to the large man's.

"Raikage-sama Mizukage-dono I accept the terms and conditions" Shortly after his acceptance Mei let out a happy giggle and wrapped the blonde in a hug when he attempted to give her a handshake.

"Thank you Handsome you won't regret it, and most of the work is already done for you she already likes you so all you have to do is seal the deal, too bad for me I suppose you were my ticket out of hag hood." Naruto rubbed smiled and shook his head.

"Mizukage-sama I'm sure you will find someone you're very beautiful" He complimented feeling her bait for a compliment. She smiled at the blonde and nodded before loudly sighing as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders; she turned to Motoko and gave her a large smile.

"Well then I suppose we won't be seeing each other for quite a while Motoko-chan I'll see you when I visit Kumo to make the agreement official" She nodded and looked towards Aoi who nodded to Motoko before beginning to walk away from the camp. Once they were gone all eyes turned to the purple haired goddess who merely stood and walked to an empty space between Naruto's tent and Omoi's. She took a scroll out and spread it out on the soft grass before letting her Chakra spike just barely. A tent was on the floor a second later ready to be assembled and used. Naruto walked to her and offered a hand to which she accepted. Thirty minutes later Naruto was finished helping the new Kumo resident was set he walked to the campfire and exchanged tired goodnights before switching guard shifts with Yugito who seemed a little cold to him. Samui followed him into their tent and undressed to her undergarments before settling in with her boyfriend. He slid in next to her with a tired breath and wrapped an arm around her.

"Are you worried?"

"Of course I am, an unknown woman capable of protecting the Mizukage basically throwing herself onto you appears out of nowhere how am I not supposed to be worried?" He held her a bit tighter while rubbing her sides in a soothing manner eliciting a small sigh from the woman.

"It'll be fine Samui-chan" a soft nod against his shoulder signified her acceptance he grunted when a hand slid down his pants.

"Samui really? Do you want to be on C-ranks for a week?"

"Hmph" he laughed and curled around the vanilla scented woman and closed his own eyes.

"Love ya Samui-chan"

"Love you too"

Yugakure village gates

As the large group neared the gates of the village of hot water they were greeted and accepted with large smiles. Yugakure had long ago stopped being a militaristic village and instead preferred to accept travelers with open arms. Naruto eyed everything with a small smile remembering his short time living in the village and was slightly giddy at being able to see Ayumi once again. After being told to complete their business and that they were leaving at Dawn they nodded and each split off. Yugito, Karui, and Samui decided to go the hot springs along with Motoko who the girls eyed warily. Ei and Darui left to talk the village's leader while Omoi followed Naruto.

"Naruto who are we looking for?"

"My good friend Ayumi back when I lived here we used to play together all the time" The blonde informed while eying the shops lined up on the street. He had a vague image of where the shop was.

'Guess I can just ask someone if we get lost'

Yugakure Hot springs

The four Kunoichi slowly moved themselves into the hot water of the spring. The Kumo Kunoichi sat on one side of the spring while Motoko sat on the other side with her eyes closed and a towel placed on her head. She could feel the stares of at least two of the women joining her inn the soak but ignored them. Karui being the most outspoken of the three frowned and asked the question that had been plaguing her mind since the woman had abruptly entered their lives. Samui sighed at her hot headed teammate and was reminded of her brother. Ignoring the imminent rudeness bound to from her teammate she slid lower into the warm water until it was to her nose and rubbed her aching shoulders.

"So what do you think of Naruto?" Karui questioned.

"He's good looking and seems to be a good person but other than that I have no other observations on about him" The red head didn't stop her glare and continued her questions.

"That's it? You could end up marrying him and that's all you have to say?" Yugito crossed her arms and shook her head at her student's questions. Motoko propped her elbows on the rock of the hot spring and stared at her interviewer. She wasn't offended in the least by the questions knowing that this Naruto was very important to the girls.

"I'm a ninja and so are you we do what we must to complete our duties" Karui nodded and decided not to question the woman any further and instead moved her attention to Samui.

"What about you Samui? Aren't you a little upset about this whole thing?"

"I had plenty of time to prepare for this so no" Yugito couldn't agree with Samui on that she herself was still trying to accept having to share the man she most likely was going to spend the rest of her life with, she would be lying if she didn't hold some type of negative emotion towards Samui and outright dislike towards Motoko. The fact that the two seemed to be alike in many ways didn't help. Karui nodded and let herself just enjoy the water and leaned back. Samui cracked open her blue eyes and peered at the Kiri woman, silent gazes were passed across the room from Samui and Motoko no words needing to be said. Motoko nodded knowing what she wanted and went back to soaking.

Back with Naruto Omoi the two had eventually found themselves in front of a large gated house. The place smacked of rich if the bright gardens and uniformed guards were any indication. As soon as the duo had gotten close to the gate they were blocked by two crossing pikes. One of the burly overly dressed guards grunted.

"I apologize but unless you have an appointment or are a regular visitor you aren't allowed in" Naruto raised an eyebrow and wondered just what had happened to the place he briefly called home.

"Oh well I used to live here and a girl named Ayumi is supposed to be here may I speak to her?" the guards suddenly swung the decorated weapons at the duo who easily dodged the wide strikes. Naruto frowned and had had a kunai in hand a moment later and heard Omoi's sword leave its sheath with a deadly ring. The soldiers rushed in spears poised to impale them. Omoi side stepped the attacked and split the weapon in half before his shin found the soldiers face a moment later knocking him out. Looking over he saw Naruto holding a kunai to the other guard's throat while holding him down.

"Why did you attack us?" he growled pressing the kunai closer to the man's throat.

"Your assassins no one knows that lady Ayumi is here!" the guard yelled at the blonde teen unaffected by the kunai being held at his jugular.

'Lady?'

"STOP!" an older looking lady shouted running towards the small fight that had ensued outside the gates. Several guards of the same uniform followed her in a protective manner. The gates opened themselves and the woman stopped and let a small gasp escape her when her suspicions were confirmed.

"Naruto it is you!" the woman rushed towards the boy only to be stopped by Omoi's sword pointing her way, the guards surrounding her held there weapons to the two ready to fight.

"Everyone stop I mean it! These men will not be harmed understood?"

"Yes, Lady Mari!" the soldiers yelled before bringing their weapons down obediently. Omoi rolled his sucker and sent a glance to Naruto who shrugged and lifted himself from the guard while letting his kunai retract into his sleeve. The soldier stared at the Kumo ninjas outstretched hand and took it while sitting up.

"Mari as in Ayumi's mother?" Naruto questioned with a tilted head the woman smiled and nodded while eying the blonde boy up a down for a moment.

"You've grown so much! Where's your mother is she here too?" the woman questioned while bringing him in for a hug.

"No my team and I are just stopping by on our way back to Kumo" He informed the woman accepting her small hug. A small silence enveloped the street and Naruto could feel the sadness rolling off of the brown haired woman.

"Where's Ayumi?"

"She's upstairs I'll take you to her but Naruto there's something you need to know" A slight feeling of fear crept into Naruto's mind but he pushed it aside hoping that his childhood friend was okay. The duo were led to a large sitting room with the guards following and seemingly returning to their posts with only two remaining outside the door of the room. Tea was given to the three by a maid who disappeared behind the door with a small bow to Mari who responded with a small. Mari gripped her cup with both hands and stared into her reflection in the beverage.

"Ever since your mother gifted us this store our lives have been extremely I'm sure you can see. When your mother gave the business to us it gave us a small portion of the village's economy. We managed to turn the store into something much bigger a company I guess you could say, we dabble mostly in trading now but we also stayed true to your mothers idea and continue to sell rare items we send our 'adventurers' you could call them I suppose to collect. We partially own most things in Yugakure in return and were considered nobles I suppose, everything was fine up until a couple months ago." Naruto and Omoi stopped there slight wonder at the woman's ability to build a successful business but brushed it off at her change of tone.

"Ayumi…was on vacation in Iwa when one of the volunteer ninjas told me she had collapsed. When I arrived there I was told that she had been poisoned hence all the security, on top of that an entire group of our adventurers were wiped out. We moved her here after the incident" the members of team five took on grim faces.

"I see" Naruto trailed off fearing the worst.

"She's extremely weak the poison is still in her system, we've called for the famous med-nin Tsunade to visit her but we haven't received word from her and our sources say she hasn't been seen in some time now" the woman finished visibly sad visibly saddened by the reminder of the absent doctor.

"May I speak to her?"

"Of course she's told me numerous times that the last thing she wants is to see you" Naruto was lead upstairs to what he remembered to be the door of his room, like the house everything was done over. The door opened letting the two walk in while Omoi stayed outside the door. Naruto eyed a girl staring outside the only open window of the room and immediately noticed how thin the girl looked.

"Musume I've got a surprise for you" Ayumi turned her head to the familiar voice of her mother and tilted her head when she noticed her second visitor. Moments passed by as she studied his face. She her eyes start to burn with unshed tears, she held out her shaking arms and felt the tall man envelope her in a hug.

"N-Naru-(sniff)-to!"

"The one and only" he immediately replied letting her thin arms squeeze him as tight as they could. A couple minutes of crying later and Naruto found himself sitting on her bed holding her hand making Ayumi laugh every so often with each other remembering stories of the two playing together. Ayumi gradually calmed down and let her smile drop.

"Naruto-kun…" the sickly girl questioned quietly, Mari gripped her dress tighter knowing what was about to be said.

"Hm?"

"There's going to be another attempt on my life" A growl escaped him while his grip around her small hand became tighter.

"How do you know?" he asked quietly.

"The private investigator says it's inevitable the only reason I'm here is because of protection and the assassins have most likely found me" she informed while resting her head on his shoulder. He nodded and wrapped his arms around her before noticing the origami lily placed on her nightstand next to her bed that he remembered form so long ago. Something welled up from inside him akin to anger and rage making him hug her tighter.

"I see, well I guess I'm just going to have to stay and teach the bastards a lesson then ne?" his determined reply came.

"You mean it?!" she questioned; when she received a nod she squealed and hugged him tighter. Mari smiled at the two happy that Ayumi was finally smiling once again.

A/N: Next time jealousy and battles!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.